Keeping it Positive

Keeping it Positive

PBIS’s Impact on School Culture

The
implementation of PBIS can have a profound impact on your school
culture and establish desirable conditions for an emotionally and
physically safe learning environment. Prior to PBIS implementation, our school
of 670 students had over 1,600 office referrals for major problem
behaviors. Through the implementation of PBIS and our faculty’s
commitment to continuous improvement, this number dropped to an annual
average of 435 office referrals over the last four years. A reduction on
that scale is estimated to have saved more than 23,000 instructional
minutes given the measure of 20 minutes lost per student referral.

At
the core of the PBIS framework is a commitment to direct instruction of
expected student behaviors and a focus on seeking out and encouraging
desired behaviors. Too often our attention turns negative as we observe
learning errors or problem behaviors in the classroom. Best practice in
PBIS advocates the 80/20 rule for classroom management with no less than
80 percent of practices being prevention based. Most researchers endorse
a minimal ratio of 4:1 positive to corrective feedback in the classroom
or in a schoolwide setting. Depending on specific student needs, that
ratio may need to increase. Given the importance of team leadership to
the sustainability of a PBIS initiative, it’s essential to prioritize
time for team building during professional development. Schoolwide
trainings are excellent opportunities to check for understanding and
clearly define schoolwide and classroom expectations.